Meet House-of-Cards Builder Bryan Berg, and 8 of His Most Stunning Creations

Meet House-of-Cards Builder Bryan Berg, and 8 of His Most Stunning Creations

By Mina Hochberg
| Published: 2/11/2014

The professional "cardstacker" builds massive structures out of playing cards.

Photo courtesy of Bryan Berg
Professional "cardstacker" Bryan Berg stands by his replica of the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, which took 44 days to build.

The Netflix series House of Cards is making its Season 2 premiere this Friday. Though the show title refers to the precarious nature of beltway politics, we thought we'd use this as an occasion to celebrate actual houses of cards — as in, building replicas that have been constructed with thousands of playing cards.

Enter Bryan Berg, a Santa Fe-based "cardstacker" who makes a living building card structures and currently holds the Guinness World Record for largest free-standing structure made of playing cards. He's tackled everything from the Empire State Building to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Sadly, he demolishes most of his creations soon after they're built, so you can't visit them in person. However, here are some photos to marvel at.